Pure Magic
by Theresalwaysaprice
Summary: The heroines of Fairytale Land once had magic, but had to give it up and erase their memories of ever having it. Belle struggles with her magic, and when she gets it back she must learn to control it.
1. Chapter 1

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**Chapter One**

A quiet stillness settled upon the residents of the castle as the 18 year old girl crept through the stone hallways. She clutched her Book of Shadows tightly as she made her way down the stone steps hoping she would not get caught.

Unfortunately, hopes were dashed by the sudden appearance of Sir Nicholas' son, Gaston who had appeared out of nowhere. "And where do you think you're going Miss Belle," he questioned her suspiciously. "It's none of your business now let me pass Gaston," she said glaring at the young, handsome knight who was to be her husband when she turned twenty-one. Gaston was three years older and acted as if he already were her husband.

"Let me see that," he said as he pulled the book of spells out of her grip. "Gaston, please give it back," Belle exclaimed having to jump up to reach since he was a few inches taller than her. But Gaston only held it much higher and he began to flip through the pages, "What is this, your diary? It's not even written in English!"

"No it is not my diary, but it is still my property so I demand you give it back," making this demand Belle knew it was disrespectful for her to talk to a man in this way, but she was also the princess so she had some authority over him—not much, but some.

Despite her disrespect Gaston cared for Belle and was just teasing, but it was true she shouldn't have been out this late, "Alright Belle, I'll stop teasing but you should be in bed." "I will, but I was hungry and I wanted something from the kitchen," she said not daring to tell her true reasons for being up in middle of the night.

He nodded, "alright but as I said you need to get bed, you need your rest," he lectured as he handed her back her book. He then departed giving Belle a chance to relax, but she had to avoid her father's other guards and knights as well.

Stepping out into the cool night air Belle entered the Enchanted forest to meet her six best friends in the clearing where they secretly met. As she traversed into the forest she thought about her engagement to Gaston. It wasn't that she did like Gaston; it was just that she had no deep feelings for him and she thought he was superficial and vain. Impressing people with his skills with the blade and hunting were the only things he cared about. She could never talk to him about the books she read, what she learned, or what she believed in, like she could with her mother and her father. Now that she was getting older she had to learn to talk to someone other than her father especially her future husband, but she was not comfortable with that.

At least she could talk to her friends such as, Red. Red was a very understanding and sympathetic person, and did not criticize Belle's lack of romantic feelings towards Gaston. She, like Belle, was a firm believer that love should not be forced upon someone. Belle was a princess and Red was a peasant, a village girl, so she did not have to be arranged to marry someone it was her choice. Red's grandmother was strict and hard on her and Belle was sorry that her friend felt just as trapped as she did.

It was extremely dark and difficult to navigate through these woods, but Belle had done it so many times it had become second nature to her. She had gotten lost a few times, but both Red and Snow had helped her learn her way around. She was getting close to the clearing, and she could smell the burning embers rising up through the trees.

"You're late," her 'friend' Aurora commented in an accusatory tone. Aurora's arms were crossed as she sat on a tree stump trying to take in the warmth of the fire. Her light brown hair was draped over her shoulders. Belle and Aurora barely got along and often times Red and Snow would have to get between the two of them preventing them from using their magic on each other.

"Yes, well I was delayed, but I am here now," Belle said to Aurora who was rolling her eyes. "You are our fearless leader and you should be here on time!" Aurora said rather sarcastically, but Belle ignored her. The other five girls were also gathered around the fire trying to get warm.

"What's going on? Why did we need to meet?" Belle asked looking at Red, who was her, as the knight's would put it, second in command. "Ella has had a vision," she turned to the blonde girl who was looking at her feet nervously. She was another friend, who like Red came from what was considered a commoner's background. Ella lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters, who had a habit of putting on airs. Her father had died a few years ago. She had been treated as if she were nothing more than a something they stepped in, but Belle and the others were her safe haven.

"What did you see Ella?" Belle inquired, feeling a sensation of foreboding coming upon her. The others looked at Ella eagerly awaiting what she would describe. After all, Ella's visions almost always came true and foretold of very grim futures. For once it would be nice if her visions were of something pleasant, but Belle knew it would not happen. She did not know how Ella would handle them! It must have driven Ella mad just thinking about them even after the she had them and it did seem as if she would shake after having the visions.

Taking a deep breath, her skin paler than usual, she began, "I cannot even begin to understand, but I can tell you what I saw. We were in another world with no magic. Not all of us were there, and it was a strange, unnerving sort of place. Those of us in this world were trapped there, but we didn't realize it. We had no memories of our current lives. Aurora and I asked the faeries about my vision, and they said it was true. A curse would take us from our world, a dark curse created by the man known as the Dark One or some referred to him as Rumplestilskin. The fairy Queen said it was not the curse we should be concerned with, but that darker days that lie ahead and we would be tested."

"Wait what do you mean tested?" Ariel exclaimed. "Tested how," she asked her blue eyes widened at the thought of this. Ariel was the youngest in the circle by a few months. She and Aurora were both 16, but Aurora had been born a few months before Ariel. "Were the faeries cryptic as usual or did they tell us what to expect from these tests," she continued worried that she would not be able to come to the surface since magic is what allowed her to form human legs and walk on land.

Ella and Aurora both shook their heads. At this point Aurora took over, "No they did not say a lot," she rolled her eyes again. "All they said was that these tests would prepare us to face whatever destiny has planned for us, and we will, apparently, have to sacrifice our magic as part of it."

This was met by a chorus of shocked exclamations from four of the girls while Belle kept quiet. Unlike the others, Belle feared her magic and how her father would react if he found out she had magic like her mother. He blamed magic for her mother's death and did not trust anyone who used it. He even feared the faeries. So Belle felt more pressure at keeping their secret than the others did. It also did not help she did not understand her magic or that her mother had not prepared her for what to expect. The idea of giving up her magic was somewhat appealing, but she did not confide to the others.

"Belle? Belle?" Snow prodded, "Are you listening?"

"Oh, sorry! What were you saying?" she asked recovering from being lost in her own thoughts.

"Snow was asking what you think of giving up your powers." Aurora irritatingly replied. She found it rather annoying how Belle's mind tended to wander off into her own little world. They all worried about Belle's tendency to let her mind wander, but she was one of the bravest of the group, and Aurora envied that about her. She wished she could be that confident, but she was not as brave, far from it in fact.

Belle did her best to not sound as if she was actually happy about giving up her powers. "The Good Faeries are wise, and know what they are doing. They always have a reason, and besides, this might be good for us not to rely on magic." She argued reasonably, and prepared herself for the protests; half of her friends Aurora, Ariel, and Rapunzel disagreed while the other half Snow, Ella, and Red knew Belle made a good point. "Besides," Belle said, "I don't think we have much of a choice."

"What do you mean?! Because you say so Belle," Aurora questioned.

Snow answered for Belle, "No, because either way will get our powers taken away now or when the curse happens. Aurora you remember what the red fairy said, 'that in this world this curse will take us from our world and we won't have our magic. Look at it this way, at least we would not have to lie to our loved ones anymore.

"If I lose my magic I can no longer come to the surface, and I cannot be stuck at home in the ocean for the rest of my life! I will not give up the freedom to walk on land," Ariel protested, but she knew it was a waste of a protest when she saw the look on Belle's face. It was the same look Ariel's father had whenever he put his foot down, so Ariel had no choice. She hated being one of the youngest because even amongst her friends she felt as if she had no say in matters.

Belle shook her head. She felt bad doing this especially since she wanted a reason to give her magic, but when Faeries confirmed Ella's premonition, Belle knew it was true. As she took out her leather-bound "Book of Shadows" she explained, "once the spell takes effect you won't remember ever having had magic or being on land so in the end it will not matter Ariel." She looked at all three who objected to this. No one said anything.

She carefully opened the book the pages crinkling as she turned them until she came across the spell they needed. The spell was written in an ancient script that was difficult to translate. Belle ran her hand over the writing and it began to glow a bright gold. The letters began to shift from the ancient language to English.

Slowly and carefully she recited each word of the spell as she cut herself with the dagger, which Red kept underneath the folds of her skirt. She slit both her left and right palms and handed the dagger to Snow. Snow did the same as Belle then passed the dagger to Ella who repeated the same process. It went around the whole circle, each of them cutting themselves, and reciting the spell until the dagger got back to Belle. They let the blood from there palms drip into the flickering flames, and for a moment everything went silent until a blast of energy threw each of them all back….


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Belle awoke with a start, disoriented as she tried to determine her whereabouts. The room was dark, but warm and comforting, and she was lying in soft cushy bed. She was also alone…in her very own apartment above the town library.

Now, she remembered, a few weeks ago she had left Rumplestilskin's home, who was trying to give her space. When he found out she was inquiring about the library he gave her the key. She now lived by herself in the upstairs apartment and on nights like this, she was she was not ashamed to admit it, she missed him.

They were dating, but she missed having his arms wrapped around her at night making her feel safe. During the first two weeks when they were living together she was sleeping in his bed with him because she had not been able to fall asleep alone. They just held each other, and she had not given herself to him nor did her force or ask her to.

Belle turned on the lamp, which was an object that fascinated her because all you had to do turn this tiny knob and a light as bright as a flame would shine through. It cast a bright glow about the room forcing her to close her eyes for a moment so she could adjust her eye sight to the sudden light. She contemplated her strange dream, though it was not the only dream she had had lately. Normally, her dreams were about her fears of being imprisoned again by Regina or she would dream about Rumple, which often times were a bit inappropriate, but also her fears for him. This one, however, was about her, but she was friends with Ruby and Mary Margaret in the past in the dream, and some of other woman of, whom she had never met before, or at least from what she remembered. In the dream they talk about the curse that brought them here in first place, but what was most interesting was they all had magic! She would not be able to go back to sleep so to calm her thoughts, which whirled around her mind like fairy lights she reached for the book on her nightstand.

This book was titled Dracula by Bram Stoker, which was a book she had started reading a couple of days ago. She chose it, after reading the first few pages and the summary because she realized she could identify with Mina, the story's heroine, so she immediately had to read more. Mina was in love with a man whom everyone considered to be a monster; he was a vampire and only she could see the humanity within him. Belle hoped the story would have a positive outcome in the end, but she had her suspicions it would not have a happy ending.

Ruby had said the movie was better, but of course at the time Belle had never heard of the term movie so Ruby's statement confused her. After Ruby had explained what a movie was Belle decided she would have to rent it, and if she liked it maybe it could be something she and Rumple could watch together.

This morning Belle wore a white blouse and a denim skirt, and she loved being able to wear skirts instead of wearing a long uncomfortable gown. She arrived at diner greeted by the usual assortment of early morning diners. Ruby, who was taking the orders of her other customers, gestured to Belle she would be right with her, so Belle sat down in her favorite booth.

Many things had happened while sitting in this booth. For instances, this was the very booth where she tried ice tea and met Ruby for the first time. It was also the booth where she tried a hamburger for the first time, and where she and Rumple had had their first date. Unfortunately, that date had been interrupted by Regina, whom Belle believed she would never get over being afraid of.

She did not even have to look at the menu anymore because she would always ask for the same thing; pancakes with bacon and eggs, and a chi latte, but this morning the first thing she asked her red and white clad best friend for was coffee. "Coffee," Ruby asked, raising her eye brows at her friend's request. Belle always ordered some form of tea so this was a surprise. Seeing her friend's confused expression Belle explained, "Last night I could not sleep so I stayed up all night reading, but had not realized how long I had I had been up so I didn't get much sleep.

Ruby chuckled, but immediately went into to an older sister mode, "I realize you love reading, but you can't stay up all night reading because you need your sleep. Now, tell me why you couldn't sleep last night?" Ruby took a seat across from her friend knowing there was obviously something distressing the girl. Ruby could always tell when something was on Belle's mind since Belle was a bit of an open book. She could tell Belle was hesitant to share especially because she was fidgety a habit of hers that she seemed to do whenever she wanted to talk about something but was uncertain. So Ruby took her friend's hands and put her own on top as a gesture of assurance.

Seeing that she was still hesitant Ruby decided to pry, "Was it Regina related?" Belle shook her head.

So she tried another possibility, "Rumplestiltskin related," but she shook her head again.

Belle's dreams were either her fears of Regina or her fears for Rumplestiltskin, a relationship which still fascinated Ruby but she was also jealous of. Ruby desperately hoped to find true love again as she once had, but her love, whether it was true or not, was dead because she killed him—a guilty feeling which still haunted her to this day. Gus had the potential to be her boyfriend, but King George had killed him. Gus' death was another one she blamed herself even though it was not her fault, so currently she had not experienced true love since Peter.

She still had no idea what Belle's dream could be about since it was not about Rumplestiltskin or Regina, but thankfully Belle saved her the trouble of asking again. "It was not a bad dream or an intimate one either it was just strange and a surprising one," she began twirling her thumbs as she spoke.

"We all knew each other you, me, Henry's grandmother, and the blonde girl you introduce me to, Ella, and a few other girls. There were seven of us actually and we seemed to be childhood friends. What surprised me though was…I think we sorta had magic." She explained, waiting for Ruby's response.

"Magic huh, well you must have been dreaming because the only magic I remember having is turning into a wolf during a full moon. Plus wouldn't we remember having magic," she asked, which was a perfectly logical question, Belle thought. Belle then added, "In the dream we had to get rid of our magic because of some test that was planned for each of us."

Before Ruby could respond they were interrupted by an elderly, but still strong sounding, voice asking, "Ruby, what are doing?" Ruby's grandmother was standing there with her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed at the younger woman. Ruby rolled her eyes before she turned to address her grandmother, "I'm sorry granny. I was just talking to Belle. She needed to talk." Rolling her eyes just like her granddaughter, which made Belle chuckle, she replied, "Yes, well you can visit her during your break. I'm sure she wants to eat her breakfast, and you have customers." "Sorry Belle," Ruby apologized, reluctantly removing herself from the booth. "It's fine. You can stop by the library and we can have lunch," Belle assured her. Besides, Belle did not want to talk about this in front of everybody because people tended to ease drop in this town just like back home. "I'll get you a coffee, and your usual meal, I presume," Ruby asked and Belle nodded. Ruby left her to tell the chef what to make.

As Belle waited for Ruby she took out Dracula and continued reading where she left off last night. She was determined to finish it; she still hoped it would have a happy ending, so she could read the next book on her list, which was Jane Eyre. Completely immersed in the story she almost missed Ruby putting her breakfast down in front of her. Ruby just rolled her eyes smiling as she watched Belle take bites and sips as she read. Not even the sound of the chiming bell over the door that signaled someone entering the diner could distract her.

A female voice that she had heard only a few times asked, "Is that a good book?" She looked up to see the familiar blonde woman, whom she had only met once, standing there. "Oh hello, Ms. Swan," Belle said, not minding the brief interruption. "Oh you can call me Emma. Belle right," Emma asked. Belle nodded offering for Emma to join her. She politely accepted the offer just as Ruby was coming over with Emma's coffee already prepared and Belle's as well and along with her breakfast. Both women thanked Ruby and returned to acquainting themselves with each other.

"To answer your questions yes it is Belle and this is a very good book," Belle said once Emma returned her attention back to her. Emma looked at her quizzically after she read the title of the book, "Dracula. I don't really know you all that well, but you don't strike me as the type to read horror stories." Chuckling, Belle said, "I guess that just proves you should never judge a book by its cover. No pun intended of course. Besides, in my opinion it's more than just a horror story. It's a story about love. Dracula is only seen as a monster, but Mina sees him differently. She sees him as man who has made wrong choices," she explained confidently to Emma who was very intrigued by this woman's words and wondering why she was so passionate about it. Then again Emma had thought fairytales were just stories. This was also the woman, according to what Emma knew now, who took up resident and became a servant to a beast to save her father, and 'stole' the beast's heart.

"So I'm guessing Moe French is your father," Emma inquired and she noticed Belle's expression seemed to show she was sad at the thought of thinking about her father. The hurt that had occurred the last time Belle saw him was still raw, and neither had spoken since that day. One relationship was going well while the other was falling apart, but Ruby had assured her it was perfectly normal when a father had trouble letting go of his daughter; especially, when he did not like her boyfriend. Eventually he would come around, but it still broke Belle's heart that he could not accept her love for Rumple.

"Belle," Emma's friendly voice broke Belle out of her reverie.

"Are you okay," Emma asked her with a concerned expression on her face.

"Oh I'm fine. I was just thinking about my father. We did not part well last time I saw him," Belle explained sadly. She had this look in her eyes that Emma recognized. This was a look that said I love you, but you let me down.

"I'm guessing he does not like your choice in men," Emma suggested, and Belle just smirked, "No he doesn't, but it's my life and I am an adult so I should be able to make my own decisions." She stated firmly trying to hide the fact she was still upset about her father.

Emma wondered who the beast was in this town; she had met several of the men, but none of them seemed to meet the brooding criteria of the prince turned beast. There was one man in particular who could pull that off, but Emma immediately brushed the thought away. The beast had once been a prince and Mr. Gold was no prince, and Belle she assumed had more sense than that. The though made Emma a little sick, actually picturing Mr. Gold as a romantic just made her cringe, but then again he might surprise her. She did sense at times there was more to him then what he showed, and he reminding her he may have created the curse, but all her decisions had been her own made him seem like a puzzle that was frustrating to piece together.

So who could it be she wondered curiously as Belle continued to speak, "Ruby says it's perfectly normal in this world for a father not to approve of their daughters boyfriend especially since I'm his only daughter, but he'll eventually be happy for me." Her doubt was clearly shown on her face, "I don't think he'll ever be okay with it." "Well if it's any consolation if David, my dad, had met Henry's father I don't think he would like him either," Emma said, trying to show understanding. She didn't talk about Neal at all and the closest she ever came to mentioning him was to Mary Margaret—her mom—whom she told that she had lied to Henry about who he was. For some reason though, she wanted to open up to Belle or at least show that she understood what Belle was going through.

"Thank you, but it's a bit complicated when it comes to Rumple and me." As soon as Belle said this, Emma choked on her hot coffee causing her to burn her tongue in the process. Belle just rolled her eyes at Emma's shocked expression. She had a feeling Emma felt the same everyone else did. How could Rumplestiltskin have true love when the man was incapable of that? At least that's what Belle feared everyone thought, but they didn't know him like she did. He was not a monster but a heartbroken man who was all alone in the world and had made wrong choices to protect himself and his son. She loved him with all her heart and soul, and would do whatever she could to help him find Baelfire healing his broken heart she hoped. She did not care what people thought of her. All she cared about was that her Rumple was happy and that people would stop judging that she loved the "monster". It was getting tiresome.

It all made perfect sense now, Emma realized, Mr. Gold, or Rumplestiltskin's, behavior on Valentine's Day. Mr. Gold taking a way Mr. French's livelihood, how his determination to take the law into his own hands when he realized Mr. French was the one who stole from him, and then what happened in the cabin! The words she overheard echoed through her mind as she heard them again, "She's gone forever, she's not coming back, and it's your fault, not mine! You are her father!" When she grabbed his wrist to stop him from beating Moe French to death the look in his eyes showed nothing, but pure hatred for the man, but there was also an undeniable pain in those eyes. It had disappeared though and his expression returned to the mask she saw every day.

"Your 'her' aren't you," Emma asked staring wide eyed at the woman who had given her heart to Rumplestiltskin unselfishly.

Speaking rather angrily, despite not meaning too, "If by **her **you mean am I the woman who fell in love with Rumplestiltskin then yes I am!"

"Don't worry Belle, I not here to judge you," Emma explained instantly feeling guilty at her reaction. She may not like the man, but it did not give her the right to criticize or make judgments, and she had no room to talk anyway with her past record not being the best. "After all, I probably have no room to judge anyone; I'm just a little surprised that's all. I guess I don't know you or him all that well," Emma assured her making Belle feel a little guilty for snapping at her.

Belle sighed, "I'm sorry Emma. I shouldn't have been so rude. It's just I'm really frustrated by people's reactions when they find out about us. I feel like I can't go out anywhere with people thinking 'why is she with him?' They just see Rumple as a monster, nothing more, and I'm not blind to how he is towards others. How he's hurt people and many seem to **think **he has ruined a lot of lives, and I'm not trying to justify his actions, but there's more to him than what he shows people." Belle saw some good in the man, and Emma hoped Belle's faith was not misplaced. Belle looked at her watch. "I should probably go. It's almost 9 AM, and I should get back to the library," she said apologetically to Emma. She nodded, "Yes and I have some citizen arrests to make," she said and when she saw Belle's expression she added, "It was just joke. I'm not arresting anyone, yet." Belle sighed with embarrassment that she had not gotten the joke, and it reminded her when a certain someone had made a joke about her having to skin the children that were hunted down for their pelts. She smiled to herself thinking back to her first night in the Dark Castle. Emma cocked her head curiously at her new friend seeing her suddenly grin, but just ignored it guessing it was a private joke. Both women said goodbye to Ruby and Granny leaving the diner together, but went in opposite directions.

Morning came and went quickly as Belle continued to clean the library to prepare for its grand opening. It had seemed to take longer then she had anticipated, cleaning up the place and opening it up for business and Belle still had some inventory to file away on the computer. The machine that was called a computer made her feel very nervous and overwhelmed with all its technology. While trying to create an excel document to better organize the books into categories she accidently hit the wrong button, and all her work was starting to delete itself rather quickly. She began to panic, and there were only two people she could think to call to help her before she broke the computer. She decided to call Ruby, who would be on her lunch break, and she did not want to disturb Rumple. He was always so busy working on how to break this curse that prevented them from leaving the town. She missed him and could not wait for their next date, but asking him to come and help would not be fair plus she had other more intimate reasons for not wanting to ask him for help.

Ruby came in carrying a paper bag with two burgers, fries, and a soda for her and an ice tea for Belle just as Belle was about to break the computer by shaking it vigorously. "Belle, Belle calm down you're going to break it," Ruby said trying to calm her down. She grabbed Belle's wrists gently and pulled her hands off the computer.

Groaning Belle put her face in her hands. "I can't figure this stupid thing out! I don't know what I did," she exclaimed in a muffled voice, but was still audible. "Alright, stand up. Let me see. What happened," Ruby offered persuading Belle to get up from the swivel chair she was sitting in. Sitting down, looking over the screen Ruby turned to her and repeated, "What happened?"

"I don't know one minute I was typing this, and I guess I hit a button, and I don't know how to get what I was typing back," Belle exclaimed, feeling embarrassed she still couldn't figure out how to use the computer, "I feel so stupid Ruby I can't seem to figure out this thing! It's too confusing."

"I know, but don't worry that's what I am here for," she assured her friend. "Did you save it," Ruby asked as she returned to face the computer. "No, I forgot I was supposed to," Belle said as she shook her head her eyes widening when she realized her mistake. Shrugging Ruby replied, "Don't worry either I can recover this, and if not I'm sure we can retype this. Do you have the information you were trying to type written down. "Of course," Belle said pointing to the piece of paper lying beside the computer. It was a list of Book titles, authors, the confirmation numbers, and where the books were located amongst the shelves put into a chart. She also had a list of books that she probably wanted to read later, Ruby noticed chuckling to herself.

"I would have thought Mr. Gold taught you how to use the computer," Ruby, still referring to him as his Storybrooke identity, inquired a few minutes later as they started retyping the list onto the excel document. Belle blushed a little remembering the day he **tried **to teach her how to use the computer. It had been more of a distraction than her learning anything. "He couldn't really teach it to me," she muttered, trying to act nonchalant but failing miserably. Ruby noticed, raising her eye brows. "Really, do I want to know?" Belle just continued to blush, and she could not help but think about that morning….

_Belle stood back admiring her work on the library, which had completely drained her of energy. She felt a real sense of accomplishment as she always did after mastering a task. It wasn't complete she needed to learn how to file away the books on a document on the computer, and she had no idea how to use the contraption. Putting her hands on her hips, as she stared at the machine she was about to take on, she contemplated how she was going to figure out how to use it. All was quiet until she heard the familiar thumping of a cane, which contrasted with the footfalls that followed. She turned excitedly to see her Rumple, she could not help but think of him as belonging to her not in a controlling way of course, coming into the alcove looking very dapper in one of his neatly tailored suits. Immediately she ran over to him wrapping her arms around his neck. "Aren't we enthusiastic Dearie," he chuckled. She reluctantly pulled away blushing a little. "I'm just so happy to see you. I've been bored." Raising his eyebrows he questioned, "You bored when you are surrounded by so many books? If memory serves, I always found you in the Dark Castle's library reading well into the night because you lost track of time." _

_ "Well, I wasn't exactly reading this time I've been cleaning and organizing the place," she reminded him, "but I also could use your help." "Ah, so I see you have an ulterior motive," he teased suspiciously wagging his finger at her reminding her of the Rumple she knew back in Fairytale Land. She just rolled her eyes, "It is not an ulterior motive because I am happy to see you as well, but if you can help me I would be very grateful." "I am at your service," he bowed causing her to giggle. She loved this side of him. This playfulness was one of the things she adored about him. _

_ Gesturing to the computer she asked, "Do you know how to use this?"_

_ "Ah yes, this dreadful machine is something I have learned how to use," he replied rolling his eyes at the computer._

_ "I've never seen you use one before," Belle inquired. _

_ "Well you know me sweetheart I prefer the fine point of a pen and paper, but I thought mastering this technology could be useful. Many people in this world use it, and I thought it could help me in the future," he shrugged. She guessed he was probably thinking that it could help him in his search for Baelfire if magic could not help. _

_ Walking over to the machine he pulled out the chair for her and asked, "What is the problem?" _

_ "Well, first off how do you turn this thing on," she asked. He just chuckled, "Oh don't worry that's simple." She sat down and he leaned over her the smell of his cologne lingering about her. "You just have to press this button over here," he told her and she did as he instructed. The waited in awkward silence as the computer turned on and then he asked taking off his jacket, "What do you need me to show you now?" "Uh, well can you show me how to make an excel document. I want to put the books and their information in a chart," I explained._

_ To explain things and help her learn exactly what to do Rumple placed his hand on top of Belle's helping her to navigate the mouse. She became very aware of his hand on top of hers. She trembled a little at his touch as she always did when they came into intimate contact with each other. Before Rumplestiltskin she had not had intimate contact with any man, not even Gaston. She had always been told intimate contact with another man was inappropriate before marriage, but it did not sate her desires when she realized she was in love with Rumple. She had wanted him to touch her in ways that she would never even consider before, but in this world intimate contact with a man was often praised as long as it was legal._

_ He was ever the gentlemen when they lay in bed together while he held her when she was living with him. Not pressuring her to have that kind of contact just holding her and making sure she was comfortable. Now she had trouble controlling her desires. In public she was fine, but when they were alone she thought about it a little too much. What it would feel like to have him touch her, have him inside her. _

_ As he explained how to make an excel document her mind kept drifting. "Click on the box here and type in what you want using these keys, but you might want to keep your fingers on the keys so you will remember where the keys are," he explained as he pointed out where her fingers should be placed. She did as he recommended and then asked, "What if I need to combine the boxes for more space for the words?" "Just drag and click like so as to connect, and remember to save this as well. It's very important you don't want to lose all your work," he explained. _

_ Before she saved the document, reminding herself she could do it later, she stood wrapping her arms around his neck thanking him with a kiss. "Thank you," she said gratefully. Their lips met and it started out as their usual soft kisses, but the urge inside her grew stronger and it became full of need and passion that she could not control. Without parting they moved over so Belle was sitting on the desk her hands running through his soft brown hair. He put his own hands on her hips pulling her closer to him and she wrapped her legs around his waist. His sex was throbbing as he felt her legs wrap around his waist and he wanted nothing more than to be inside her. Just when she thought something was going to happen and she was debating if she should stop him, to her disappoint, he pulled away first. _

_ Taking a step back he said apologetically, "Belle I'm sorry. I should not have done that." _

_ "Why," she asked bewildered that he was apologizing. "I'm the one who kissed you." _

_ "Yes, but I should not have encouraged you," he reasoned._

_ They were silent for a moment caught in an awkward pause. A part of her wanted what had been about to happen to happen, but another voice was saying she was not ready. _

_ "I should probably go," he suggested, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between them. She wanted to tell him to stay, but instead just nodded. Before he left Rumple kissed Belle on the cheek feeling it was safer then kissing her sweet tasting lips and promised to return if she needed help with anything. As soon as he was gone she ran to the bathroom, thankfully there was one down here, and turning on the faucet she splashed cool water on to her already damp face. She breathed heavily as she placed her hands on the white porcelain sink still feeling his wet lips upon hers and the strange feelings he invoked when he touched her. She was still trying to slow down her beating heart as she thought of their brief intoxicating moment together. Sometime that moment would happen, but now it did not seem to be the time._

Belle was brought back to the present by the sound of Ruby's voice,"Oh sorry Ruby. I was just thinking about something." She had been so lost in her thoughts and had not heard Ruby speaking to her. She did not even notice Ruby looking over her shoulder at the list books she was planning to read at some point.

"I said, 'are you organizing these or writing a list of books to read.'" She snatched the list just as Belle was about to hide it from her. "Let's see, what my friend is planning on reading today," she teased going over the list.

"Don't be mean Ruby," Belle protested, but was not angry with her friends teasing. She knew it was all in good humor, anyway.

"There seems to be a theme to your books, Belle," Ruby continued to tease. After Dracula she had Jane Eyre, Phantom of the Opera, and Wuthering Heights to read. "I think you have a thing for Byronic heroes." Belle snatched the list back from her friend.

"I like these stories. They are romantic and…" Belle began to explain, but Ruby interrupted her, "and you feel you can relate to the heroine." Belle blushed at this because it was true, but unfortunately some of these seemed to have tragic endings, which did not make Belle feel any better. Hopefully Jane Eyre would not, she thought sighing heavily.

Ruby put down the burger she was eating and took her friends hand. "Listen Belle you should not let how others feel about who you love bother you…._Though, I don't know why you trust him. He's dangerous and has ruined so many lives. How can you love him__,_" Belle heard Ruby's words and they seemed to sound kind and assuring, but suddenly they were overshadowed by words that sounded hateful and cruel.

Angrily she spat, "You don't know him I like I do and you probably would never even give yourself a chance to get to know him. All you see is the evil, nothing more than that!"

Ruby was completely taken aback. "Belle, calm down. All I said was don't let what others say bother you. It's your life and your decision!" Feeling embarrassed Belle blushed, "I don't know what just happened or how I miss heard you, but I swear I heard you say something different."

"Maybe you are just tired and add that to what you already get from ignorant people, and well misheard me," Ruby explained.

Belle shrugged, "Maybe I really am crazy," she laughed; trying to cover up the awkward moment, but Ruby just shook her head. "You are not crazy Belle. You just see something in him that others don't see," she assured holding Belle's hand. Taking on a more focused expression Ruby rubbed her hands together, threw her trash away and returned to helping Belle learn how to create a spreadsheet on the computer to file away the all the books.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**_Flashback: _**_When Sir Maurice's wife, Marie, had passed away he was not only devastated, but found he could not raise his daughter on his own. He could not prepare her for the responsibilities of becoming the future Lady of the castle taking her mother's place on the throne. When he heard about St. Elizabeth's Finishing School for Young Maidens he sought out the opportunity. Every autumn until spring Belle lived at the school until she would come of age to take the throne. Maurice missed his daughter terribly, but it was necessary and she would return during the holidays to visit. Besides, her father had other political matters to attend to such as forming an alliance with a neighboring kingdom through marrying his daughter to Sir Gaston, and then there were the Ogre attacks on the kingdom._

_ Belle sat on the window seat writing down her inner thoughts in her journal. She had been in the middle of reading Shakespeare's __Hamlet__ when a thought came to her that she had to write about in her journal. She had had a dream about when she was a child and meeting a strange man with gold skin, but she could not remember the rest of the details just that she found him very compelling, and that she wanted to meet him. Unfortunately, she woke up before she could find out who the mysterious man was._

_Belle shared a dormitory with several other girls including Princess Aurora. Aurora did not share Belle's dreams of adventure rather Aurora enjoyed wearing the latest fashions, and in Belle's opinion was a bit of a snob She came bursting into the room with a huge grin upon her face mostly likely because of Philip. She began to sing happily out loud a lovely tune, but Belle chose to ignore her and returned to trying to describe her dream. "I just have the most wonderful news," Aurora exclaimed happily, "Philip and I are to be betrothed." _

_ "Congratulations. I am very happy for you," Belle stated politely. "You could be a little more thrilled for me," Aurora snapped angrily. _

_Belle put down her journal and quill. "I am happy for you truly, but you've only known him for a month now, and I just think you should at least spend a year or longer together. Get to know him better." "Yes, well I do know him! He is a good man and very kind, and this will unite our kingdoms," Aurora once again snapped back. She crossed her arms in triumphant feeling that Belle would have nothing else to say. _

_Belle just shook her head. "Don't you want to marry someone you love truly and feel connected to? Not just politically, but emotionally," Belle asked. Aurora just rolled her eyes. "I do love him! Now, if you don't mind I have some friends who will actually be happy for me." Belle sighed in defeat, and having finished writing returned to reading Hamlet. _

_Aurora left irritated by Belle's lack of excitement for her. She hated when her feelings of happiness were ruined. Her footsteps echoed as she walked down what appeared to be a vacant hallway making her feel very nervous. She heard a swishing sound behind her, and quickly she turned to see what was behind her, but nothing was there. She returned to face the front, but what she came face to face with was a shrouded figure. The hallway had grown dark; the torches began to extinguish one by one a cold chill filling the air around her. Panic had set in as the figure came closer to her and reached for her and recovering from paralyzed fear Aurora screamed. _

_She suddenly felt her body become light in weight and looking down at her hands they were luminescent and faded looking. She gasped as she studied her form and looking up she saw her body standing in front of her unconscious, but separate. Had she died from fear? No that was ridiculous, she thought shaking her head. Looking past her physical body she noticed the cloaked figure had just been one of the boys, James, who loved to tease and pick on the younger students. He knew how easily he could scare many of the girls, but she saw he was currently on the ground with Belle standing over him. _

_ Belle had heard Aurora's scream so dropping her book she hurried out into the hallway to find her roommate had astral projected out of her body. She did not have time to react to Aurora's magical act but only to deal with whatever scared her friend. Belle witnessed a cloaked figure coming towards Aurora but the figure was snickering. With a wave of her hand Belle sent the figure flying across the floor. Coming towards the figure, who turned out to be King George's son Prince James, she glared at him. "How dare you! Are you really that immature and arrogant James that you think you have the right pick on those of us who are younger than you," she asked in stern voice. "Why should I care what you think __**witch**__," it was question but it had an undertone of accusation, but she ignored it for she was use to the false accusations of being a witch of the dark arts. She knew she had the potential to be a witch of the darks arts, but Belle refused to give into that. She narrowed her eyes threateningly at James for he was one of the few she sometimes was tempted punish with her magic, but she refused to give into the darkness that she believed was inside of her. "Just go James before you anger me," she warned and he pulled himself up trying to act as if she did not just throw him on his ass._

_ Rolling her eyes Belle returned her attention to Aurora who had come back to her body and was trying to recover from the shock. She smiled at Aurora, but Aurora just back away from her in fear. "Aurora it's alright. I know what you can do. You can astral project; you have magic like me," she said in a kindly way. Aurora just shook her head. "I'm not like you! I'm not a witch, I'm just a girl," she insisted continuing to back away. _

_"Not all witches are bad it just depends on how you use your magic. In fact, we forbid ourselves to use the darks arts. Please, just meet me and my coven at midnight in the dungeons if you want to understand your powers better there's a place in forests behind the castle where we meet. Please come," she almost pleaded, but not waiting for Aurora's answer she gave her one last look of hope that Aurora would come and then returned to their room._

**Present: **

The morning was cloudy, which was the norm for Storybrooke it seemed, but Belle did not let the weather dampen her spirits for she was in a good mood. With Emma and Mary Margaret back Rumple and Belle could spend some alone time together, and hopefully no more interruptions. Ever since their first date and what happened in the library the other day when he had stopped by to teach her how to use the computer she had been anticipating their next date. After getting dressed and ready for the day she walked across the street hungry for one of Granny's delicious breakfasts.

Upon entering the diner at first glance she knew Ruby had not arrived yet so she made her way to her booth. Sitting down she took out a new book, having finished Dracula, but no sooner had Belle finished the first page the smell of pancakes reached her nostrils. Granny placed her plate of food in front of her. "I figured you would want your usual. Unfortunately, my granddaughter has not arrived yet so I thought I would bring it to you." Belle could detect an irritated tone despite the kind smile, but she knew it was not directed at her, but at her best friend not being here to do her job. Belle returned the smile though. "Where is Ruby," she inquired. Granny just shook her head. "I don't know she's late again. You would think at this point she would know to come to work on time," she replied with a note of frustration as she put her hands on her hips. She suddenly looked at the window by the booth behindBelle and hurried over to the door._ "__Oh gods is she talking to dogs again?_" "Ruby can talk to dogs," Belle exclaimed as Granny walked past her booth, but Granny looked down at her quizzically. "Who told you that?" Confused, Belle asked, "Didn't you just say that?"Granny shook her head making Belle feel unnerved and bewildered as Granny said, "No, but I was thinking about that." The older woman walked away returning to the kitchen to retrieve and give other customers their food.

As Belle took a sip of her ice tea she began to wonder if she was just being paranoid or had she heard someone else's thoughts just like the other day with Ruby. It was the second time, and she was uncertain at this point, but suddenly she heard another's voice. She recognized the "voice" as belonging to her friend Dreamy—now it was Grumpy—and was he "saying", _'Can you believe that witch actually had the nerve show up at the party last night! I don't know why Emma thinks she can change when clearly Regina doesn't care about anyone, but herself.'_There was a harshness there that for a second Belle almost felt sorry for Regina, but it faded quickly as she remembered what Regina had put her through.

Soon other people's thoughts crept into her mind. Some were thinking about what they were eating, Ashley was thinking about how she didn't get enough sleep, and she even heard Emma's concerns about taking full responsibility of Henry. The constant thoughts whirring in her head gave her a head ache, and she needed to calm herself. She needed to find a place to ease her mind, a sanctuary, and she could only think of one place and one person who could easily do that for her. She left a quick tip and hurried out the door brushing past a bewildered Ruby, but she did not say anything to her. Though, she did hear a snippet of Ruby's thoughts which sounded worried and upset about something. Belle was too distracted to question her best friend and would probably talk to her about it later. Briskly walking she tried to ignore the chatter in her head as she passed by random people. Did this mean the other day she had heard Ruby's thoughts? Suddenly, she paused when she saw her father.

She watched as her father was loading up his truck with flowers. "Hello papa," she said hoping hearing her call him papa would soften his heart and start them on the road to reconnection. "How are you? You look well. Are you?" Belle had forgiven him a while back after separating herself emotionally from her father, but lately he had become cold towards. It made her angry how unfair he was being for he had no right to be the one upset, but she always tried to be the better person. "I'm well," he replied curtly nodding as he returned to loading his truck.

Sighing she returned to walking, but his thoughts stopped her. _"That girl is not my daughter! How could she choose that monster over me, her own father? Why couldn't she just marry Gaston and be happy?"_ Without considering the fact he only thought this that he did not speak it out loud Belle jerked around to face him and shouted, "Because I didn't love Gaston, and he didn't love me! We would have made each other miserable. He would only be happy once I gave him sons. He would have had a kingdom and an heir—correction heirs—and then he would get bored of me. I want to be happy, I want more out of my marriage as you and mother had. I have that with Rumple! We are happy and we love each other. Why can't you see?!" Not giving him a chance to respond she spun on her heel and left him gaping after her. Neither noticed the crack in the glass window display behind them.

Belle shut the door to her apartment sighing in frustration at what just happened between her and her father. He anger towards him freshly renewed in her mind she felt fresh tears streamed down her cheeks as she stood there in front of her front door arms crossed in anger. How could he be so stubborn and hateful? Why could he not understand and be happy for her? Looking up at the clock on the wall she saw it was 12:30, and she was starving. She had not eaten much of her breakfast and she still wanted to see Rumple so pulling out her cell phone she dialed his number.

Taking a few breaths she made her voice sound as natural and casual as possible so when she spoke he would not detect something was bothering her. She did not want to think about things she just wanted to be with him and did not want him to ask questions for she knew how angry and protective Rumple could get if he heard someone had hurt in anyway. "Hey Belle," he answered after the second ring and just the sound of his voice sent tingles down her spine. "Can I come by? I can bring lunch," she asked hoping she did not sound distressed or anything just wanting to spend some time together. "Of course sweetheart, I definitely wouldn't mind the company," he replied lightening Belle's mood considerably. After hearing his reply she said, "I'll right I will be over in ten minutes." "Belle, are you alright," he asked before she got a chance to hang up. Oh the Gods, she thought, he could hear it in her voice, but she just continued to lie, "I'm fine I just miss you." He accepted that, but Belle guessed he had his suspicions so she quickly told him again she would see him soon and hung up.

Walking down the street to Rumple's shop Belle was more relaxed and at ease with herself. She had not passed anyone to hear thoughts and could once again think clearly about what happened with her father. He was still heartbroken over losing his little girl—after all she was his only child—and as much as Belle hated to admit it Rumple did have a reputation for being dangerous and her father wanted to protect her. Belle also knew Rumple's wicked behavior and sinister actions were what Archie told her, defense mechanisms. They were a way to protect himself and hide his pain. It was just a way for him to cover up his broken heart and anger about what happened between him and Baelfire. He knew no other way to protect Baelfire then to taken on the power of The Dark One, and that power made him invincible, immortal, and a threat to those who hurt his loved ones. Both of her men were stubborn and one day she would have to get them to talk like normal men, but it would be a long time before that could happen.

She was greeted by the familiar sound of a jingling bell, but Rumple was not at the front display case where he usually stood to conduct business as she had assumed he would be. Instead she heard the sounds of shuffling coming from the room in the back so she decided to wait patiently for him and wandered around the shop. She loved examining the strange items his shelves, walls, and glass containers held. There was always something new to discover and a story to go with each item so she set the basket down on the counter to observe what new items his shop might contain. As she wandered aimlessly about the shop she was curious to know if anything he had here was new or was just something she had not noticed before. Lost in her own curiosity she had not heard or seen him coming out of the back room.

Feeling Rumple's arms suddenly around her waist she began to tremble, and she closed her eyes inhaling deeply taking in the feel of his hands touching her body."Good afternoon," he said softly in her ear. It took her a moment to respond due to the distraction of him being this close touching her this way, but she was able to get the words out, "Hello to you too. I was just admiring your collection wondering if there was anything new." She turned to face him putting her arms around his neck waiting for him to answer. He just shook his head. "Nope, nothing you haven't seen before." "Ah, well I am sure there plenty of stories I haven't heard yet," she said. He chuckled as he kissed her forehead. "Probably not so I am guessing you will want to hear some of those." She nodded and he placed his lips upon hers kissing her sweetly. Releasing them he pressed his forehead against hers as she sighed deeply. "We should probably take a look at what you brought for lunch and eat it," he said, his voice almost sounding like a whisper. She nodded smiling, but reluctant to part even a few feet.

He wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked over to the counter to look over what was in her basket. "So what did you bring for lunch," he asked as he walked around to the other side of the display case. "Well," she began, "we have all your basic food groups." She pretended to display the basket as if it were for show. "Sandwiches with meat and cheese, grapes and pears—no apples of course-, carrots and celery, and strawberries with chocolate to dip them in for desert," she explained smiling proudly at her what she had put together. "Well, it looks delicious," he complimented returning her smile. She was about to kiss him again, but they were interrupted by the sound of the bell jingling behind them.

"Nothing warms the heart more than a family reunited. You have your mother's chin, Ms. Swan," he replied greeting Emma and her parents with one of his usual sarcastic quips, and Belle tried to hide the slight twitch of the smile that had appeared on her mouth. Emma did not waste time with any pretense. "We know you killed him." "And your father's tact," he replied and as Belle rolled her eyes but still smiled. "Do tell Dearie who is that I supposedly killed," Rumple asked, not bothering to hide the sarcasm. "Dr. Hopper. Now who else could have done it if you didn't," Emma questioned making it sound more as if she had made up her mind that Rumple was guilty already. "Dr. Hopper was killed by magic and only two people use magic on a regular basis for selfish purposes…_and murderous_ in this town," Belle heard Emma thinking knowing what she was implying and Belle clenched her fist angrily. She did not even notice the shaking objects on the wall or the glass on the display case cracking.

Before Rumple could defend himself Belle asked, her voice steady, as she stepped forward holding his hand, "And you don't think Regina is capable of doing something like this?" "She was framed," Emma stated truly believing it. In Emma's mind Belle heard Emma's determined words that Regina had to be innocent, and that was trying so hard to be good. Belle still had her doubts about Regina's innocence though.

"I don't know if Regina is innocent, but I do have an alibi for last night," Rumple explained surprising Emma and her parents, squeezing Belle's hand comfortingly. Emma raised her eyebrows. "Which is?" "I was with Belle." Belle nodded in agreement wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned against him affectionately not at all embarrassed to show to display her affection towards her Rumple.

She could hear in Emma's thoughts that she was suspicious, David accepted it seemed, but it was Mary Margaret's thoughts that got Belle's attention. _"This explains what he said when I first met him when he gave me the potion to help me forget Charming! He loved Belle, but something had happened. Maybe she didn't love him, but that didn't seem like the case now for she could see clearly how much Belle loved Rumple. It could be a spell, but she knew the difference between true love and an illusion of love. Maybe they had been separated, but the fact he said 'love makes us sick. It haunts our dreams, destroys our days' makes me all the more curious about what happened between Belle and Rumple. Currently, I have to focus on Archie's murdered, though. That person needs to be brought to justice and despite how evil Rumple can seem I still say it was Regina. I will let Emma try to prove us wrong because I had to learn the hard way there is no hope for Regina, and Emma needs to learn this too." _ Belle's curiosity was piqued by Snow's thoughts as she hoped Rumple did not think that way about love now. She still did not know why he reacted the way he did when she kissed him the first time, but she guessed it had something to do with his son, and his son's mother and Regina.

Once again Rumple surprised everyone and suggested "If you don't believe me we could ask the witness," and as if on the cue Pongo came trotting out his tail wagging as if he were saying how grateful he was to have someone to take care of him. Belle was pleasantly surprised as she watched Rumple affectionately caress Pongo. "I didn't know you were such a dog person!" "I knew a sheep dog in my time whose company I did enjoy," he admitted.

Ignoring the intimate exchange between couple Emma pointed out, "Well unless you speak dog I doubt Pongo would be a very good witness." Rolling his eyes Rumple said, "Very observant Ms. Swan, but we aren't here to verbally find out what Pongo saw, but extract his memories of the event." "You can do that," Emma asked caught off guard. "Yes, with magic Dearie," he said and retrieved a dream catcher from behind the counter. Before anyone could say anything David, studying Rumple and the dream catcher with suspicion, asked, "And how do we know you won't trick us, and set it up in your favor?"

His distrusting thoughts irritated Belle, but just as she was about to defend him again there was crash. All five people turned to see a glass jar containing a dead rat had fallen to the ground, and the stench of decaying flesh filled the room. "Is that a dead rat?" Emma stared at the body of the dead rat in disgust holding her nose to fight off the stench of it. "Yes it is Ms. Swan. I would use it for potions and such," he explained as if this were perfectly natural. Wanting to not waste time Mary Margaret went over to pick up the dead rat and broken glass, but Mr. Gold said, "I will take care of that later. Let us retrieve the information from the witness so you can leave." It was obvious he wanted to get rid of them as much as they wanted to leave so putting down what bits and pieces they had picked up Mary Margaret rejoined the group.

"As I was saying," Mr. Gold continued, "I'm not the one who is going to be using magic. Your daughter will be." Emma started at the suggestion. "I can't use magic. Yeah somehow Cora wasn't able to take my heart, but I barely understand it and how it works," she exclaimed. "It's simple Dearie," he started to explain as he slowly waved the dream-catcher over Pongo's head and down his back, "You will just have to focus and picture what you want to know and see in your head."

All four eyes stared as a gold colored light filled the center of the dream-catcher. This was the kind of magic Belle was comfortable with for it was safe and not at all dangerous. In fact, it was amazing to watch as Emma took the dream-catcher concentrating on it. It took her some time, but a scene slowly began to unfold before their eyes. It reminded Belle of the moving pictures Ruby had told her about. In the scene they saw Dr. Hopper was welcoming Regina into his office in his usual friendly way, but something did not seem right or feel right about, but maybe that was because it was Regina. The two talked for a few seconds as Archie went to get something from a cabinet and Regina came up right behind him grabbing his neck she lifted him in air choking him to death.

Belle was sickened at the sight of Regina murdering Archie who was completely innocent, and had done nothing wrong in, Belle's opinion, to deserve that kind of fate from Regina. She kept her anger at the woman in check until Emma and her parents left. She had not failed to notice Emma's defeated and disappointed expression for Emma had to admit Regina was the guilty party. She had been so hopeful that Regina was innocent, and Belle could not understand that, not completely. _"How can I tell Henry that Regina murdered someone? He hoped he would be enough to motivate her to change, and it really seemed that she was changing. I can't do this I can't tell Henry his adopted mother hasn't changed, That she killed Archie" _

Emma thoughts came across Belle, and now she realized it was Henry she was thinking about just like in the diner. Regina was Henry's adopted mother, and he wanted her to become better. Belle understood that very much so. The idea of loving someone who has done "evil" things in the past and so badly wanting for them to become a better person, a good person, is not easy. It would be heartbreaking to found out your love is not strong enough to change them for the better, but to be the person to tell them can be just as bad. She did not want to be in Emma's place, but it also was not easy being in the place Emma was in right now. In spite of Rumple's actions still refused to tell let anyone talk her out of loving him and having faith, and Henry still had faith in Regina.

Rumple did not hide his relief that Emma and her parents had left, and Regina might be permanently no longer a threat, but as he was picking up the glass and the dead rat Belle noticed his expression change to puzzlement. "What is it," she inquired her head cocking to one side in curiosity. He seemed lost deep in thought and for a moment he did not answer her question. "It's just strange that Regina would do something like this. Not that what happens to her would concern me. I just don't think it was her," he explained as he stood up to throw the glass he had picked up away. Belle just stared at him in slight disbelief. "The evidence was right in front of us! You don't think she did this," Belle asked, bewildered. He shook his head. "No, Regina maybe capable of murder, but this is not her style. She wouldn't murder someone in cold-blood unless she had reason and motivation. Regina may find Dr. Hopper a bit annoying, but she wouldn't just kill him unless he did something to her," he reasoned. "Maybe he did do something to provoke her," Belle shrugged. Rumple had a good point, though considering what he said and if Regina was innocent it wouldn't be right for her to be convicted for a crime she did not commit, but then again how could they argue with what was right in front of them. She was terribly conflicted she felt a deep dislike for this woman, but Rumple was right and usually when it came to things like this. How could she wish this fate on Regina if she was innocent?

**Chapter 3**

**_Flashback: _**_When Sir Maurice's wife, Marie, had passed away he was not only devastated, but found he could not raise his daughter on his own. He could not prepare her for the responsibilities of becoming the future Lady of the castle taking her mother's place on the throne. When he heard about St. Elizabeth's Finishing School for Young Maidens he sought out the opportunity. Every autumn until spring Belle lived at the school until she would come of age to take the throne. Maurice missed his daughter terribly, but it was necessary and she would return during the holidays to visit. Besides, her father had other political matters to attend to such as forming an alliance with a neighboring kingdom through marrying his daughter to Sir Gaston, and then there were the Ogre attacks on the kingdom._

_ Belle sat on the window seat writing down her inner thoughts in her journal. She had been in the middle of reading Shakespeare's __Hamlet__ when a thought came to her that she had to write about in her journal. She had had a dream about when she was a child and meeting a strange man with gold skin, but she could not remember the rest of the details just that she found him very compelling, and that she wanted to meet him. Unfortunately, she woke up before she could find out who the mysterious man was._

_Belle shared a dormitory with several other girls including Princess Aurora. Aurora did not share Belle's dreams of adventure rather Aurora enjoyed wearing the latest fashions, and in Belle's opinion was a bit of a snob She came bursting into the room with a huge grin upon her face mostly likely because of Philip. She began to sing happily out loud a lovely tune, but Belle chose to ignore her and returned to trying to describe her dream. "I just have the most wonderful news," Aurora exclaimed happily, "Philip and I are to be betrothed." _

_ "Congratulations. I am very happy for you," Belle stated politely. "You could be a little more thrilled for me," Aurora snapped angrily. _

_Belle put down her journal and quill. "I am happy for you truly, but you've only known him for a month now, and I just think you should at least spend a year or longer together. Get to know him better." "Yes, well I do know him! He is a good man and very kind, and this will unite our kingdoms," Aurora once again snapped back. She crossed her arms in triumphant feeling that Belle would have nothing else to say. _

_Belle just shook her head. "Don't you want to marry someone you love truly and feel connected to? Not just politically, but emotionally," Belle asked. Aurora just rolled her eyes. "I do love him! Now, if you don't mind I have some friends who will actually be happy for me." Belle sighed in defeat, and having finished writing returned to reading Hamlet. _

_Aurora left irritated by Belle's lack of excitement for her. She hated when her feelings of happiness were ruined. Her footsteps echoed as she walked down what appeared to be a vacant hallway making her feel very nervous. She heard a swishing sound behind her, and quickly she turned to see what was behind her, but nothing was there. She returned to face the front, but what she came face to face with was a shrouded figure. The hallway had grown dark; the torches began to extinguish one by one a cold chill filling the air around her. Panic had set in as the figure came closer to her and reached for her and recovering from paralyzed fear Aurora screamed. _

_She suddenly felt her body become light in weight and looking down at her hands they were luminescent and faded looking. She gasped as she studied her form and looking up she saw her body standing in front of her unconscious, but separate. Had she died from fear? No that was ridiculous, she thought shaking her head. Looking past her physical body she noticed the cloaked figure had just been one of the boys, James, who loved to tease and pick on the younger students. He knew how easily he could scare many of the girls, but she saw he was currently on the ground with Belle standing over him. _

_ Belle had heard Aurora's scream so dropping her book she hurried out into the hallway to find her roommate had astral projected out of her body. She did not have time to react to Aurora's magical act but only to deal with whatever scared her friend. Belle witnessed a cloaked figure coming towards Aurora but the figure was snickering. With a wave of her hand Belle sent the figure flying across the floor. Coming towards the figure, who turned out to be King George's son Prince James, she glared at him. "How dare you! Are you really that immature and arrogant James that you think you have the right pick on those of us who are younger than you," she asked in stern voice. "Why should I care what you think __**witch**__," it was question but it had an undertone of accusation, but she ignored it for she was use to the false accusations of being a witch of the dark arts. She knew she had the potential to be a witch of the darks arts, but Belle refused to give into that. She narrowed her eyes threateningly at James for he was one of the few she sometimes was tempted punish with her magic, but she refused to give into the darkness that she believed was inside of her. "Just go James before you anger me," she warned and he pulled himself up trying to act as if she did not just throw him on his ass._

_ Rolling her eyes Belle returned her attention to Aurora who had come back to her body and was trying to recover from the shock. She smiled at Aurora, but Aurora just back away from her in fear. "Aurora it's alright. I know what you can do. You can astral project; you have magic like me," she said in a kindly way. Aurora just shook her head. "I'm not like you! I'm not a witch, I'm just a girl," she insisted continuing to back away. _

_"Not all witches are bad it just depends on how you use your magic. In fact, we forbid ourselves to use the darks arts. Please, just meet me and my coven at midnight in the dungeons if you want to understand your powers better there's a place in forests behind the castle where we meet. Please come," she almost pleaded, but not waiting for Aurora's answer she gave her one last look of hope that Aurora would come and then returned to their room._

**Present: **

The morning was cloudy, which was the norm for Storybrooke it seemed, but Belle did not let the weather dampen her spirits for she was in a good mood. With Emma and Mary Margaret back Rumple and Belle could spend some alone time together, and hopefully no more interruptions. Ever since their first date and what happened in the library the other day when he had stopped by to teach her how to use the computer she had been anticipating their next date. After getting dressed and ready for the day she walked across the street hungry for one of Granny's delicious breakfasts.

Upon entering the diner at first glance she knew Ruby had not arrived yet so she made her way to her booth. Sitting down she took out a new book, having finished Dracula, but no sooner had Belle finished the first page the smell of pancakes reached her nostrils. Granny placed her plate of food in front of her. "I figured you would want your usual. Unfortunately, my granddaughter has not arrived yet so I thought I would bring it to you." Belle could detect an irritated tone despite the kind smile, but she knew it was not directed at her, but at her best friend not being here to do her job. Belle returned the smile though. "Where is Ruby," she inquired. Granny just shook her head. "I don't know she's late again. You would think at this point she would know to come to work on time," she replied with a note of frustration as she put her hands on her hips. She suddenly looked at the window by the booth behindBelle and hurried over to the door._ "__Oh gods is she talking to dogs again?_" "Ruby can talk to dogs," Belle exclaimed as Granny walked past her booth, but Granny looked down at her quizzically. "Who told you that?" Confused, Belle asked, "Didn't you just say that?"Granny shook her head making Belle feel unnerved and bewildered as Granny said, "No, but I was thinking about that." The older woman walked away returning to the kitchen to retrieve and give other customers their food.

As Belle took a sip of her ice tea she began to wonder if she was just being paranoid or had she heard someone else's thoughts just like the other day with Ruby. It was the second time, and she was uncertain at this point, but suddenly she heard another's voice. She recognized the "voice" as belonging to her friend Dreamy—now it was Grumpy—and was he "saying", _'Can you believe that witch actually had the nerve show up at the party last night! I don't know why Emma thinks she can change when clearly Regina doesn't care about anyone, but herself.'_There was a harshness there that for a second Belle almost felt sorry for Regina, but it faded quickly as she remembered what Regina had put her through.

Soon other people's thoughts crept into her mind. Some were thinking about what they were eating, Ashley was thinking about how she didn't get enough sleep, and she even heard Emma's concerns about taking full responsibility of Henry. The constant thoughts whirring in her head gave her a head ache, and she needed to calm herself. She needed to find a place to ease her mind, a sanctuary, and she could only think of one place and one person who could easily do that for her. She left a quick tip and hurried out the door brushing past a bewildered Ruby, but she did not say anything to her. Though, she did hear a snippet of Ruby's thoughts which sounded worried and upset about something. Belle was too distracted to question her best friend and would probably talk to her about it later. Briskly walking she tried to ignore the chatter in her head as she passed by random people. Did this mean the other day she had heard Ruby's thoughts? Suddenly, she paused when she saw her father.

She watched as her father was loading up his truck with flowers. "Hello papa," she said hoping hearing her call him papa would soften his heart and start them on the road to reconnection. "How are you? You look well. Are you?" Belle had forgiven him a while back after separating herself emotionally from her father, but lately he had become cold towards. It made her angry how unfair he was being for he had no right to be the one upset, but she always tried to be the better person. "I'm well," he replied curtly nodding as he returned to loading his truck.

Sighing she returned to walking, but his thoughts stopped her. _"That girl is not my daughter! How could she choose that monster over me, her own father? Why couldn't she just marry Gaston and be happy?"_ Without considering the fact he only thought this that he did not speak it out loud Belle jerked around to face him and shouted, "Because I didn't love Gaston, and he didn't love me! We would have made each other miserable. He would only be happy once I gave him sons. He would have had a kingdom and an heir—correction heirs—and then he would get bored of me. I want to be happy, I want more out of my marriage as you and mother had. I have that with Rumple! We are happy and we love each other. Why can't you see?!" Not giving him a chance to respond she spun on her heel and left him gaping after her. Neither noticed the crack in the glass window display behind them.

Belle shut the door to her apartment sighing in frustration at what just happened between her and her father. He anger towards him freshly renewed in her mind she felt fresh tears streamed down her cheeks as she stood there in front of her front door arms crossed in anger. How could he be so stubborn and hateful? Why could he not understand and be happy for her? Looking up at the clock on the wall she saw it was 12:30, and she was starving. She had not eaten much of her breakfast and she still wanted to see Rumple so pulling out her cell phone she dialed his number.

Taking a few breaths she made her voice sound as natural and casual as possible so when she spoke he would not detect something was bothering her. She did not want to think about things she just wanted to be with him and did not want him to ask questions for she knew how angry and protective Rumple could get if he heard someone had hurt in anyway. "Hey Belle," he answered after the second ring and just the sound of his voice sent tingles down her spine. "Can I come by? I can bring lunch," she asked hoping she did not sound distressed or anything just wanting to spend some time together. "Of course sweetheart, I definitely wouldn't mind the company," he replied lightening Belle's mood considerably. After hearing his reply she said, "I'll right I will be over in ten minutes." "Belle, are you alright," he asked before she got a chance to hang up. Oh the Gods, she thought, he could hear it in her voice, but she just continued to lie, "I'm fine I just miss you." He accepted that, but Belle guessed he had his suspicions so she quickly told him again she would see him soon and hung up.

Walking down the street to Rumple's shop Belle was more relaxed and at ease with herself. She had not passed anyone to hear thoughts and could once again think clearly about what happened with her father. He was still heartbroken over losing his little girl—after all she was his only child—and as much as Belle hated to admit it Rumple did have a reputation for being dangerous and her father wanted to protect her. Belle also knew Rumple's wicked behavior and sinister actions were what Archie told her, defense mechanisms. They were a way to protect himself and hide his pain. It was just a way for him to cover up his broken heart and anger about what happened between him and Baelfire. He knew no other way to protect Baelfire then to taken on the power of The Dark One, and that power made him invincible, immortal, and a threat to those who hurt his loved ones. Both of her men were stubborn and one day she would have to get them to talk like normal men, but it would be a long time before that could happen.

She was greeted by the familiar sound of a jingling bell, but Rumple was not at the front display case where he usually stood to conduct business as she had assumed he would be. Instead she heard the sounds of shuffling coming from the room in the back so she decided to wait patiently for him and wandered around the shop. She loved examining the strange items his shelves, walls, and glass containers held. There was always something new to discover and a story to go with each item so she set the basket down on the counter to observe what new items his shop might contain. As she wandered aimlessly about the shop she was curious to know if anything he had here was new or was just something she had not noticed before. Lost in her own curiosity she had not heard or seen him coming out of the back room.

Feeling Rumple's arms suddenly around her waist she began to tremble, and she closed her eyes inhaling deeply taking in the feel of his hands touching her body."Good afternoon," he said softly in her ear. It took her a moment to respond due to the distraction of him being this close touching her this way, but she was able to get the words out, "Hello to you too. I was just admiring your collection wondering if there was anything new." She turned to face him putting her arms around his neck waiting for him to answer. He just shook his head. "Nope, nothing you haven't seen before." "Ah, well I am sure there plenty of stories I haven't heard yet," she said. He chuckled as he kissed her forehead. "Probably not so I am guessing you will want to hear some of those." She nodded and he placed his lips upon hers kissing her sweetly. Releasing them he pressed his forehead against hers as she sighed deeply. "We should probably take a look at what you brought for lunch and eat it," he said, his voice almost sounding like a whisper. She nodded smiling, but reluctant to part even a few feet.

He wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked over to the counter to look over what was in her basket. "So what did you bring for lunch," he asked as he walked around to the other side of the display case. "Well," she began, "we have all your basic food groups." She pretended to display the basket as if it were for show. "Sandwiches with meat and cheese, grapes and pears—no apples of course-, carrots and celery, and strawberries with chocolate to dip them in for desert," she explained smiling proudly at her what she had put together. "Well, it looks delicious," he complimented returning her smile. She was about to kiss him again, but they were interrupted by the sound of the bell jingling behind them.

"Nothing warms the heart more than a family reunited. You have your mother's chin, Ms. Swan," he replied greeting Emma and her parents with one of his usual sarcastic quips, and Belle tried to hide the slight twitch of the smile that had appeared on her mouth. Emma did not waste time with any pretense. "We know you killed him." "And your father's tact," he replied and as Belle rolled her eyes but still smiled. "Do tell Dearie who is that I supposedly killed," Rumple asked, not bothering to hide the sarcasm. "Dr. Hopper. Now who else could have done it if you didn't," Emma questioned making it sound more as if she had made up her mind that Rumple was guilty already. "Dr. Hopper was killed by magic and only two people use magic on a regular basis for selfish purposes…_and murderous_ in this town," Belle heard Emma thinking knowing what she was implying and Belle clenched her fist angrily. She did not even notice the shaking objects on the wall or the glass on the display case cracking.

Before Rumple could defend himself Belle asked, her voice steady, as she stepped forward holding his hand, "And you don't think Regina is capable of doing something like this?" "She was framed," Emma stated truly believing it. In Emma's mind Belle heard Emma's determined words that Regina had to be innocent, and that was trying so hard to be good. Belle still had her doubts about Regina's innocence though.

"I don't know if Regina is innocent, but I do have an alibi for last night," Rumple explained surprising Emma and her parents, squeezing Belle's hand comfortingly. Emma raised her eyebrows. "Which is?" "I was with Belle." Belle nodded in agreement wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned against him affectionately not at all embarrassed to show to display her affection towards her Rumple.

She could hear in Emma's thoughts that she was suspicious, David accepted it seemed, but it was Mary Margaret's thoughts that got Belle's attention. _"This explains what he said when I first met him when he gave me the potion to help me forget Charming! He loved Belle, but something had happened. Maybe she didn't love him, but that didn't seem like the case now for she could see clearly how much Belle loved Rumple. It could be a spell, but she knew the difference between true love and an illusion of love. Maybe they had been separated, but the fact he said 'love makes us sick. It haunts our dreams, destroys our days' makes me all the more curious about what happened between Belle and Rumple. Currently, I have to focus on Archie's murdered, though. That person needs to be brought to justice and despite how evil Rumple can seem I still say it was Regina. I will let Emma try to prove us wrong because I had to learn the hard way there is no hope for Regina, and Emma needs to learn this too." _ Belle's curiosity was piqued by Snow's thoughts as she hoped Rumple did not think that way about love now. She still did not know why he reacted the way he did when she kissed him the first time, but she guessed it had something to do with his son, and his son's mother and Regina.

Once again Rumple surprised everyone and suggested "If you don't believe me we could ask the witness," and as if on the cue Pongo came trotting out his tail wagging as if he were saying how grateful he was to have someone to take care of him. Belle was pleasantly surprised as she watched Rumple affectionately caress Pongo. "I didn't know you were such a dog person!" "I knew a sheep dog in my time whose company I did enjoy," he admitted.

Ignoring the intimate exchange between couple Emma pointed out, "Well unless you speak dog I doubt Pongo would be a very good witness." Rolling his eyes Rumple said, "Very observant Ms. Swan, but we aren't here to verbally find out what Pongo saw, but extract his memories of the event." "You can do that," Emma asked caught off guard. "Yes, with magic Dearie," he said and retrieved a dream catcher from behind the counter. Before anyone could say anything David, studying Rumple and the dream catcher with suspicion, asked, "And how do we know you won't trick us, and set it up in your favor?"

His distrusting thoughts irritated Belle, but just as she was about to defend him again there was crash. All five people turned to see a glass jar containing a dead rat had fallen to the ground, and the stench of decaying flesh filled the room. "Is that a dead rat?" Emma stared at the body of the dead rat in disgust holding her nose to fight off the stench of it. "Yes it is Ms. Swan. I would use it for potions and such," he explained as if this were perfectly natural. Wanting to not waste time Mary Margaret went over to pick up the dead rat and broken glass, but Mr. Gold said, "I will take care of that later. Let us retrieve the information from the witness so you can leave." It was obvious he wanted to get rid of them as much as they wanted to leave so putting down what bits and pieces they had picked up Mary Margaret rejoined the group.

"As I was saying," Mr. Gold continued, "I'm not the one who is going to be using magic. Your daughter will be." Emma started at the suggestion. "I can't use magic. Yeah somehow Cora wasn't able to take my heart, but I barely understand it and how it works," she exclaimed. "It's simple Dearie," he started to explain as he slowly waved the dream-catcher over Pongo's head and down his back, "You will just have to focus and picture what you want to know and see in your head."

All four eyes stared as a gold colored light filled the center of the dream-catcher. This was the kind of magic Belle was comfortable with for it was safe and not at all dangerous. In fact, it was amazing to watch as Emma took the dream-catcher concentrating on it. It took her some time, but a scene slowly began to unfold before their eyes. It reminded Belle of the moving pictures Ruby had told her about. In the scene they saw Dr. Hopper was welcoming Regina into his office in his usual friendly way, but something did not seem right or feel right about, but maybe that was because it was Regina. The two talked for a few seconds as Archie went to get something from a cabinet and Regina came up right behind him grabbing his neck she lifted him in air choking him to death.

Belle was sickened at the sight of Regina murdering Archie who was completely innocent, and had done nothing wrong in, Belle's opinion, to deserve that kind of fate from Regina. She kept her anger at the woman in check until Emma and her parents left. She had not failed to notice Emma's defeated and disappointed expression for Emma had to admit Regina was the guilty party. She had been so hopeful that Regina was innocent, and Belle could not understand that, not completely. _"How can I tell Henry that Regina murdered someone? He hoped he would be enough to motivate her to change, and it really seemed that she was changing. I can't do this I can't tell Henry his adopted mother hasn't changed, That she killed Archie" _

Emma thoughts came across Belle, and now she realized it was Henry she was thinking about just like in the diner. Regina was Henry's adopted mother, and he wanted her to become better. Belle understood that very much so. The idea of loving someone who has done "evil" things in the past and so badly wanting for them to become a better person, a good person, is not easy. It would be heartbreaking to found out your love is not strong enough to change them for the better, but to be the person to tell them can be just as bad. She did not want to be in Emma's place, but it also was not easy being in the place Emma was in right now. In spite of Rumple's actions still refused to tell let anyone talk her out of loving him and having faith, and Henry still had faith in Regina.

Rumple did not hide his relief that Emma and her parents had left, and Regina might be permanently no longer a threat, but as he was picking up the glass and the dead rat Belle noticed his expression change to puzzlement. "What is it," she inquired her head cocking to one side in curiosity. He seemed lost deep in thought and for a moment he did not answer her question. "It's just strange that Regina would do something like this. Not that what happens to her would concern me. I just don't think it was her," he explained as he stood up to throw the glass he had picked up away. Belle just stared at him in slight disbelief. "The evidence was right in front of us! You don't think she did this," Belle asked, bewildered. He shook his head. "No, Regina maybe capable of murder, but this is not her style. She wouldn't murder someone in cold-blood unless she had reason and motivation. Regina may find Dr. Hopper a bit annoying, but she wouldn't just kill him unless he did something to her," he reasoned. "Maybe he did do something to provoke her," Belle shrugged. Rumple had a good point, though considering what he said and if Regina was innocent it wouldn't be right for her to be convicted for a crime she did not commit, but then again how could they argue with what was right in front of them. She was terribly conflicted she felt a deep dislike for this woman, but Rumple was right and usually when it came to things like this. How could she wish this fate on Regina if she was innocent?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

A few hours later Belle was walking out of the shop in better mood than she was when she arrived, but she was also very thoughtful. Rumple had a point Regina did not kill in cold blood even if that was easier to except with all the horrible t things she had done in the past. Belle's feelings about Regina were as complicated as her feelings for Rumple had been when she first realized she had fallen in love with him. She should hate, but she could not bring herself to do that, at least not completely. In fact, Belle pitied Regina. The older woman was so unhappy that she had to destroy the happiness of others to make herself happy. Belle could not worry about Regina because she had to concern herself with these powers she might have. She felt she could not talk to Rumple about this she just could not put that burden on him because it would not be fair of her. Telling him about powers she might have could cause him to regress and she could still possibly be imagining things, anyway. The only person Belle felt she could talk to about this was Mother Superior or in there world known as The Blue Fairy. She would understand and probably would be able to help Belle understand as well.

The convent was on the edge of the woods not far from where the well that brought back that which was lost. Taking a deep breath she trekked across grassy field between the road and the convent, and she found sitting on a swing that dangled from a large oak tree her friend Astrid also known as the fairy Nova. .

"Afternoon Astrid," Belle greeted in friendly manner. "Hello Belle," Astrid returned smiling back and she stood up giving Belle a sisterly hug. In Belle's eyes the two females were kindred spirits because they both loved the idea of adventure and were restless in their roles in life. They understood each other and I had become great friends. It helped that Belle met Dreamy, now his name was Grumpy, in fairytale land. She encouraged him to not give up on his chance to be with the fairy, and when she met Astrid and found out what happened between the dwarf and the fairy she decided to offer Astrid comfort and friendship.

"How are you Belle," Astrid asked letting go of Belle.

"I'm fine," Belle replied and asked, "How are you?"

Astrid replied, "I'm good. I enjoyed the book you gave me. I wish I could go to all those places the book talks about." A wistful expression appeared on her face as she thought about the places Belle's book described. Belle gave her an encouraging smile and said, "Maybe you will, and you could bring a special someone with you with." She winked at Astrid making the young fairy blush slightly and looked down at her feet. "I don't know. I haven't talked to Leroy since last year, and we didn't exactly have our memories of each other and our time together in the Enchanted Forest," Astrid replied sighing knowing exactly who Belle was referring to.

Belle had met the dwarf, Dreamy, at a local taverm in the forest when she was still nursing her broken heart over Rumple. Dreamy expressing his feelings about Nova was the spark that Belle needed to remind her that true love still did exist. She started to have second thoughts about true love that maybe she was wrong and living in a fantasy world. She kept going back and forth wondering if maybe she had just imagined it had worked, and her and Rumple did not have true love. Somehow, though, talking to Dreamy had helped her feel better but it was not until she helped Mulan face another beast that she got the courage to return to Rumple.

Belle and Astrid met in town not too long after the curse was broken. Coming into the diner to have her usual morning meal, and sitting down at her usual table Belle noticed a girl with dark brown hair sitting by herself looking as if she could use a little company. "Hello, I don't believe we have met. I'm Belle," Belle said introducing herself to the girl. "Oh Hello, I'm Nova, but my name here is Astrid," Astrid introduced herself as well. "May I join you for breakfast," Belle asked her. After Astrid nodded eager for the company and Belle took her place across from her new found acquaintance. The two easily struck up a conversation talking about the grand adventures they both dreamed of going on, they talked about the town, Astrid shared what is was like to be a fairy, and Belle shared with Astrid about growing up in a castle and how much she missed her father. They met often after that morning for they had much in common and became fast friends and it was not too long after the topic of true love came up. Their experiences were very similar for both girls. Both were told they could not be with the person they loved and had been separated from them.

"Did you find him again Belle," Astrid asked eager to hear more for it gave her hope her and Dreamy could be together again. "Not at that time because Regina found and captured me," Belle explained with a bitter expression on her face. "But why would Regina capture you? What could you have done to her? Did your father do something to her," Astrid asked curiously. Belle just shook her head. "No not my father. She wanted to use my as a bargaining chip against Rumple." "Yes, they do seem threatened by each other," Astrid commented, "and feel the need to fight each other." Belle did not know much about Rumple and Regina's history, but in her mind the competition between the two of them was ridiculous she just refrained from saying anything.

When Astrid heard it was Rumplestiltskin who was Belle's true love she was quite shocked, but she knew Belle well enough now that she knew her friend was not ignorant and must have seen something good in him. Belle seemed to be the type of person who could bring out the best in people so Astrid reserved her judgments.

With an expression of mischief and curiosity Belle questioned, "What about you Astrid. You must have someone who loves you and you love as well. Only someone who has seen and been in love would know and believe in true love so tell me who is he? What happened between you two?" Astrid suddenly became fascinated with her napkin and tearing it to shreds. Sensing her discomfort offering reassurance Belle took the faerie's hands. "You can tell me unless you don't want to talk about, but trust when I say I will not judge nor mock you. Remember, I'm in love with the most hated and feared man in our world." She playfully winked and Astrid could not help but grin so taking a deep breath looking up at Belle she began her own tale of romance. "He was a dwarf and being that I was a fairy we had responsibilities to uphold, but we wanted to runaway together, see the world, but according to 'societal rules' that was not an option, but we didn't care. We were going to travel the world together. The Blue Fairy stopped Dreamy though, and I don't know what she told him exactly., but he told me we couldn't travel together for it would get in the way of my dream to become a fairy godmother," she said the last words with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Have you seen each other since," Belle asked. Astrid nodded, "Before our memories returned he helped me when we were selling candles for the Founders Day Festival, but nuns can't exactly date. That's what I am in this world a nun" she replied, "But we haven't seen each other since."

"You know this could be your second chance to be together," Belle pointed out for she believed everyone deserved a second chance, "You couldn't travel exactly but you could date and maybe one day travel in this world or in ours. If they found a way around the new curse that keeps us here"

"It's a nice dream but I doubt it for nothing has changed. I'm still a fairy and Dreamy is still a dwarf. I don't even know if he loves me anymore," Astrid a muttered once again tearing the napkin into shreds. Belle once again took Astrid's hand and said, "Astrid true love never fades ask anyone here, and as I am told from a very wise man," she gave Astrid a meaning full look, "it is the most powerful magic of all! Besides I met Dreamy and trust me he loves you more than anything!" Astrid could not help but grin at Belle's words, but she knew it was hopeless. Spending time with Belle renewed her hope though.

Presently, at the convent Astrid commented, "You look like you need to talk Belle. If you want to share with me you can." Biting her nails in a nervous gesture Belle wondered if it was a good idea to tell Astrid about this. About her belief she had powers, what she had experienced in the past 24 for hours, and her fears about it all. Astrid was a fairy so she understood magic and she was a good friend whom Belle felt she could trust so knowing she was desperate Belle admitted what she had just been through to Astrid. Once she was finished Belle sighed with relief feeling a weight had been lifted off her shoulders being able to confess this to someone.

Pacing the area Astrid contemplated what Belle had just told her. "Your story sounds familiar like I knew someone else who had powers that were like that, but then she wasn't an ordinary human. Did your mother practice magic," Astrid inquired trying to figure this out for she wanted to help Belle. Belle shook her head, "Not that I remember. So you don't think I was imagining it?" Astrid studied her curiously. "I don't know Belle. You could be imagining it, but you might have a magical history besides your relationship with Rumplestiltskin, but why wouldn't you remember that? I'm not an expert on magic, and I think you might need to ask someone who is like the Blue Fairy," Astrid replied, "I can go find her, and see if she is available." Astrid left to go find Blue Fairy hoping she would be able to find her and the fairy would be able to help Belle if she did have powers.

Ten minutes later Astrid returned with Blue Fairy standing beside. "Hello Belle. How are you," Blue Fairy asked as she embraced the young woman. Belle shrugged. "I'm alright just overwhelmed and a bit worried actually," she admitted reluctantly. The Blue Fairy touched Belle's shoulder kindly giving her reassurance. "Tell me what has you so overwhelmed," she asked her voice filled with concern.. Belle once again repeated her story to the fairy and told her how she and Astrid believed she might have magic. The elder fairy began to pace the area seeming to be deep in thought. "I was afraid this might happen," she finally replied causing Belle to frown. "What do you mean," Belle asked, "You knew that I had powers? That they might reveal themselves?" The Fairy nodded sadly.

"Yes," she admitted, "I do not know much about your mother, but I know she was fae, a very powerful one. She started out as good from what I know, but she changed. Your father had come to your mother's kingdom looking for a bride, and fell madly in love with your mother, but she never told him that she was a fairy. When she bravely revealed herself to him he was afraid of her. He rejected your mother and she became filled with hatred towards your father, the man whom she believed was her soul mate. She wanted him to love her so badly she and was heartbroken by his rejection so she began to use dark magic, including erasing his memory. She believed he had no right to know why she was using magic on him, but no matter the reason it is never the right choice for it destroys you taking away who you are."

The Blue Fairy seemed to be warning Belle as if afraid she would go down this path herself. This accusatory look offended and irritated Belle more than she cared to admit, but the Blue Fairy had good intentions and was always so kind to Belle. "When you were born your father was so happy, but he did not know you had inherited your mother's powers and your mother did everything she could to prevent him from finding out about you. When we were told you had inherited her powers we feared the worse so I was asked to keep an eye on you when your mother died. Then I found out about the deal your father made with Rumplestiltskin." The Blue Fairy continued to explain what she knew of Belle's powers, but hearing that she was afraid when Belle inherited the same powers and when she started bring up her father's deal with Rumple Belle's irritation, but also fear, resurfaced.

"You think I have the potential to be like my mother, and you think Rumple is a bad influence on me." It was more of a statement than a question. She glared at the Blue Fairy crossing her arms over her chest. Belle did not understand why she was getting so angry with someone who had been nothing but kind to her, but the fairy's words upset Belle. The Blue Fairy was just worried about her, which was perfectly harmless, but she still felt she had to defend herself and her loved ones. Suddenly she could feel this strange sensation of power surging through when before it was just twinges making her very worried. She had to get out of here before she did anything that she might regret like hurting someone.

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The Blue Fairy touched Belle's shoulder in an affectionate gesture. "I'm just concerned and did not mean to offend you. I just think you should be careful," The Blue Fairy insisted smiling sympathetically at Belle. Belle jerked her hand away not really intending to seem so cold, but her anger was surmounting and she felt as if she were being talked at. She needed to get out of here. "I think I need to go now," Belle muttered and hurried away ignoring the concerned expressions of the two Faeries.

Still watching Belle leave and head back to town the Blue Fairy spoke to Astrid, "Nova, I want you to keep on an eye on Belle." Astrid nodded even though she did not like the idea of spying on her friend. She was also worried about Belle and even if Belle felt offended by this wasn't her safety more important. Wasn't that what the Blue Fairy was concerned about Belle not only hurting herself but others if she was so powerful that eventually she could lose control losing herself in the process. In the end her friend would hopefully be grateful Astrid just had to be discreet about it, not make it obvious she was "spying".

Walking back into town Belle contemplated the conversation she had with the Blue Fairy and Astrid. She felt horribly guilty being so rude, and now she was much calmer so she decided to go back and apologize, but as she was about to she witnessed a sight that bothered her. Regina was sitting alone in her car staring at something through her side view mirror, and Belle looked in the direction of what Regina was looking at. Emma was explaining something to Henry and there was an expression of disbelief and then disappointment etched on his face. Belle had a pretty good idea of what this was about. Although this was probably stupid on her part Belle felt the need to console and offer comforting words to Regina.

"Hello, Regina. Um I heard about what happened. I am sorry and if it's any consolation Rumple and I don't believe you were responsible for Archie's death," she said kindly giving her a sympathetic look. "If you need someone to talk to we may not be on the best of terms, but no deserves this kind of pain." Regina just coldly stared at Belle still making her shiver slightly, but Regina had obviously had been crying, heartbroken over the loss of Henry. Of course she was not going accept Belle's sympathy or show any sign of weakness. "I don't need any words of comfort from Rumplestiltkin's pet," Regina snapped and rolled up her window. Belle winced at Regina's hurtful words, but walked back to the library, not looking back. Regina lifted her head after buckling to notice a crack had appeared on her side view mirror. "Damn it," she muttered knowing she would have to have that repaired.


End file.
